Friday, August 7, 2009

Well, some savvy MBA students at Rice University certainly think so and, of course, so do I. Recently, I helped these students by providing them with some Q Scores related to authors, chefs and food programming. Their project intrigued us -- trying to determine the variables/attributes that are most important to creating a successful cookbook.

Their analysis resulted in a series of models that help to better understand the drivers of price, sales, and the probability of success in the cookbook publishing industry, with Q Scores being the most important variables in their analysis.

As stated in their report: “The results highlight key attribute drivers that cookbook publishers should consider when evaluating the potential success of a proposed cookbook. First, Author Q Score, Media Property Q Score, and their interaction are all significant variables, indicating that Q Scores, as measured by Marketing Evaluations Inc., is a key driver of cookbook sales. Publishers can make use of this information when considering potential licensing fees and royalty payments required to hire a famous author or to secure the rights to a famous media property.”

Pretty interesting stuff! I like to call this the ‘transference of appeal.’ These findings underscore the importance of the emotional connections that consumers make with personalities and shows, and how this bonding can work to achieve success with related entities, a la the ‘transference of appeal.’

About Q Scores

Q Scores identify the most enthusiastic consumers of a personality, character or licensed property, program, or brand. Derived from our data collection model of the Favorites Concept, the Q Scores measure of likeability is an important predictor of greater consumer involvement. Understanding how these consumers are impacted, enables clients to make the most informed decisions regarding their marketing, advertising, and media efforts.

Each Q Scores category in our databases provides a wide variety of demographics for pinpointing target consumer appeal across age, gender, household income, market size, region, race, ethnicity, presence of children and other key characteristics. We offer a variety of custom reasearch options for more precise target market analyses, and when clients’ timing needs are not aligned with that of a scheduled syndicated study.

In addition to providing consistently accurate and reliable data, our top level staff has the experience and expertise to analyze and interpret the information relative to the clients’ specific needs. We are readily available by phone or email to guide our clients with our unmatched and unbiased counsel and analytical support.